November 8th

Michael A. Brown was born with the proverbial silver spoon firmly wedged in his mouth. Charismatic, tall, dark and handsome, scion of a Clinton BFF, Brown is a native Washingtonian, favorite son of vote-rich Ward 4. What better combination could one offer to the District electorate?

This brings us, Dear Readers, to the subject of Brown's recent defeat. The Nose has learned four lessons from this fiasco:

November 6th

There may not have been quite a million puppets at the Million Puppet March, but the streets were jammed as they and their friends rallied in support of continued funding for public broadcasting.

From way-larger-than-life to small-as-a-finger, with strings and without, handcrafted and store-bought, they chanted in unison "Puppets united will never be defeated!", "What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!" as they marched from Lincoln Park to the Capitol.

With memories of Snowmageddon of 2010, Hurricane Irene and a tropical storm in 2011, the earthquake of 2011, the “Derecho” storm a few months ago and now Hurricane Sandy, the DC area seems like a magnet for natural disasters. It didn’t used to be this way but maybe this is the new normal for us and this is not the last time we can expect this in the foreseeable future.

It wasn't exactly a beautiful day but the weather was better than it has been and Sandy softened the soil, nicely. So, it was a good-enough day for the young gardeners at Eliot-Hine Middle School to plant daffodils donated by the Capitol Hill Garden Club with a grant from ANC 6A.

"Pointy end up, flat side down" (says their teacher, Mr. Gauthier) and 300 bulbs later they've prepared a dazzling display for their classmates to enjoy next spring.

Francese is spending the day shuttling Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells from precinct to precinct. Wells and Francese paused to share a meal with At-Large Independent Candidate David Grosso at Tunnicliff's Tavern.

Off Road Indoor Cycling opened at 905 U Street NW, on Oct. 15. The state-of-the-art cycling studio features a variety of classes for anyone looking for a great workout. Off Road is the first specialized cycling studio in DC to offer virtual rides. It features bikes equipped with monitors to track workouts. In addition to offering a large variety of cycling classes, Off Road is committed to challenging students with innovative and proven fitness classes such as TRX and boxing.

Let’s face it. turkey is really a platform for serving rich, thick, silky gravy. Come to think of it, so are potatoes, stuffing and even the peas and pearl onions. Brining, basting and letting your turkey rest* will deliver a juicy flavorful turkey that your guests will rave about right up to the moment they taste your gravy and forget everything else.

*Resting is not optional. I don’t care how hungry Aunt Gertie is, she can wait 20 minutes for juicy turkey.